ACHIEVEMENTS: These are listed below and are now detailed in pages in their own right, which you can access by clicking on the title.
1/ Establishment of The People's Forum in the Council Chamber
2/ Recording of Votes in Council
3/ Recording Councillor Comments in Council and Committee
4/ Successfully Changing the Practice Of Presenting Council Material in Confidential Session
5/ Reforming the Rules Concerning Commercial-In-Confidence
6/ Protecting Freedom Of Political Expression for People in the City of Melbourne
7/ Writing and Moving a Successful Motion to Democratise International Negotiations on the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
| TARGET DATE: December 2002 |
PROGRESS: Achieved. |
DESCRIPTION: See each subheading, which is hotlinked to a page providing further detail.
1/ Establishment of The People's Forum in the Council Chamber
I created The People's Forum to inculcate a sense of Athenian democracy, where the people of the city come to sit in the seats the Councillors would usually use, and the citizens of Melbourne could set the agenda for discussions with their Councillors.
The Melbourne City Council website describes it this way: The People's Forums your chance to set the agenda at a meeting with Melbourne City Councillors. Held in the historic Council Chamber and open to all members of the community, the People's Forum provides another opportunity to ask questions, present views and exchange ideas with Councillors and other members of the public on issues that are important to the City and its community.
2/ Recording of Votes in Council
This mandates that the votes of Councillors in Council and Committee are recorded in all instances.
Councillors vote in formal Council meetings, with rules allowing the majority decision to be carried as the decision of Council. Previously, Councillor votes were only recorded as for or against if a request for a recording of the votes or a division was formally made. This meant most votes were carried without a record of how individual Councillors voted on that decision.
3/ Recording Councillor Comments in Council and Committee
This mandates that the relevant comments of Councillors in Council and Committee are recorded in the minutes of Council and Committee.
Councillors frequently make comments that are relevant to the decisions they take in Council. This idea is to ensure that where relevant comments are made by Councillors that their is a mechanism and expectation for those comments to be recorded faithfully. I proposed this to the Council and it was adopted by the Council. The City of Melbourne has continued to adopt this approach, now recording Council proceedings on tape and recording the relevant comments in the published minutes. This measure, in addition to my adopted proposal to record the votes of Councillors on all formal decisions has created a record of accountability previously not available but nevertheless much needed.
4/ Successfully Changing the Practice Of Presenting Council Material in Confidential Session
When I was first elected to Melbourne City Council in 1999 approximately half of the agenda of Council meetings was conducted in closed sessions that excluded public scrutiny. I felt this was wrong and set about to change the way Council operated as a open decision making body. Reforms I introduced lead to the previous practice of approximately half of Council decision making moving from closed session, to one where the Council considered the merits of whether the matters should be dealt with in closed session, and increased the proportion of open sessions dramatically.
5/ Reforming the Rules Concerning Commercial-In-Confidence
6/ Protecting Freedom Of Political Expression for People in the City of Melbourne
A recognition and reminder that political freedom needs to be gained, maintained and re-gained, events as described below meant the long hard for right to freedom of political expression was again under threat. Left unchallenged, Melbourne City Council's interpretation meant it would require administrative bureaucratic approval for demonstrations, speeches, pamphlets, stalls and many other forms of public information dissemination. This achievement was to secure the City of Melbourne's support for a guarantee of political freedom os expression within the bounds of the City of Melbourne.
7/ Writing and Moving a Successful Motion to Democratise International Negotiations on the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
I wrote and moved a motion to democratise international negotiations on the General Agreement on Trade in services (GATS). The motion was adopted on 15 October 2002 at the Melbourne City Council Finance, Corporate Services and Governance Committee.
1. That Council:
1.1. Believes public policy regarding the regulation, funding and provision of essential services should be made democratically by governments at the national, state and local level;
1.2. Calls on the Federal Government to fully consult with state and local government;
about the implications of the GATS negotiations for local government services and regulation;
1.3. Calls on the Federal Government to make public the specific requests it made to other governments in the GATS negotiations which were due on 30 June 2002;
1.4. Calls on the Federal Government to make public its specific responses to requests from other governments which are due on 30 March 2003;
1.5. Calls on the Federal Government to support the clear exclusion of public services from the GATS, including local government community services and water services;
1.6. Calls on the Federal Government to oppose any proposals which would open up the funding of such public services to privatisation;
1.7. Calls on the Federal Government to oppose any proposals which would reduce the right of local government to regulate services, including the application of a "least trade restrictive" test to regulation;
1.8. Writes to the Minister for Trade concerning the above; and
1.9. Submits the above motions for adoption by the Victorian Local Government Association at its Annual Conference with an additional motion that they be submitted for adoption by the Australian Local Government Association at its Annual Conference.
